Hezbollah

We are not in any competition with al-Qaeda. True, there are two points of view here—they have their way and we have ours. We dealt Israel a first defeat in 2000 and a second in 2006. We have our interests and our country. They can go ahead and disagree with us.

For if Iran remains exalted, we too shall be exalted. I am a lowly soldier of the Imam Khamenei. Hizbullah youths acted on behalf of the Imam Khomeini, with the aid of Imam Hussein, and sent their blessings to the Iranian people.

"On the matter of political relations with Iran, the sheikh was absolutely clear. Hizbollah regards the Iranian supreme leader, in this case Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as its ultimate authority; all major political decisions regarding Hizbollah are referred to – when not actually taken in – Iran. He gave the example of the decision taken in 1992 to enter Lebanese national politics: Hizbollah set up a commission, which prepared a report, with various options; this report was sent to Iran; it was Ayatollah Khamenei himself who took the final decision, in favour of participation."

Some area Arabs and Muslims consider Hezbollah and Hamas resistance fighters, not terrorists, though groups such as the Council on American Islamic Relations recognize the terrorist designations and urge Muslims not to support the groups.

Although Hezbollah and Hamas are not organizationally linked, Hezbollah provides military training as well as financial and moral support to the Palestinian group and has acted in some ways as a mentor or role model for Hamas, which has sought to emulate the Lebanese group’s political and media success. Hamas’s kidnapping of the Israeli soldier follows a different Hezbollah example. Moreover, two groups share the goal of driving Israel from occupied territories and ultimately eliminating it; both maintain close ties with Iran.

The new cooperation [between Hezbollah and al-Qaeda] … includes coordination on explosives and tactics training, money laundering, weapons smuggling and acquiring forged documents, according to knowledgeable sources. This new alliance, even if informal, has greatly concerned U.S. officials in Washington and intelligence operatives abroad who believe the assets and organization of Hezbollah's formidable militant wing will enable a hobbled al Qaeda network to increase its ability to launch attacks against American targets.